Weight gain. Thyroid concerns. Autoimmunity. Chronic pain. Recurrent infections. Food allergies. Fatigue.
What do all of these things have in common? Chronic inflammation.
One of the challenges I see with many of my patients is that despite some really great interventions – such as clean eating, getting more sleep, or working on stress management – that still the slightest stressors keep knocking them back down.
Falling in ‘the ditch’
An analogy that I use often with my chronic patients is that, as soon as they climb out of the ditch (aka they feel better), something pushes them right back into it. This is so common with chronic fatigue, fibromyalgia, chronic infections, or autoimmune diseases.
So this leaves people feeling hopeless, as if the strategies they have been working on, aren’t making a difference. What they really need to do, is get away from the ditch! That way, if a stressor comes along, you might take one step closer to that ditch, but you don’t fall right in it.
How to get away from the ditch?
When it comes to chronic inflammation, there are several pathways that feed inflammation. To help break the cycle, it’s important to not only limit these triggers but also to break the loop between inflammation causing stress and stress causing inflammation (see figure below).
One way to do this is by stopping the process that makes “inflammasomes” (an inflammatory process that has been linked to many diseases including liver and kidney disease, metabolic syndrome and obesity). Inflammasomes take your body’s energy and use it to drive further inflammation – instead of that energy going to you exercising or playing with your kids.
Resveratrol and quercetin are two natural substances that help shut down inflammasomes. Balancing your pH – through an alkaline diet – is another way to ensure your body can stop these inflammasome, as well as, intermittent fasting. Each of these therapies is one way to stop inflammation at the root cause and ultimately get you away from the ditch!
What else can I do?
With any chronic disease process, there is unfortunately no one-size-fits-all strategy. So having your healthcare team in place is key. They should be able to help you to both manage symptoms as well as treat the root cause, so ultimately you experience symptoms less often.
In health,
Dr Chanel Cressman, ND
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